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New Zealand women's national rugby union team
National women's rugby union team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (Māori: Rarauhe Pango),[2][3] represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport.[4] The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tournaments.
They have an 82 percent winning record in Test Match rugby, (updated 12 July 2025). Since their official international debut in 1991, the Black Ferns have lost to only five of the sixteen nations they have played against — Canada, England, France, Ireland and the United States. The team performs a haka before every match; this is a Māori challenge or posture dance. Traditionally the Black Ferns use the haka Ko Uhia Mai.
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History
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Women's rugby in New Zealand was rising in the late eighties, but recognition and assistance from New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was not available.[5][6] It was not until 1989 that women's rugby started to get official recognition with the organisation of matches by provinces and clubs.[5][6] On 22 July that year, New Zealand fielded their first women's rugby union team against a touring United States side, the California Grizzlies.[7][6]
Team's name
The team's name refers to the mamaku, the black tree fern, which is a taonga (treasure) of New Zealand. It also aligns with the colour black and the silver fern, which are iconic New Zealand sporting symbols. For example, the All Blacks is New Zealand's men's rugby team, the Black Caps is the men's cricket team, the White Ferns is the women's cricket team, while the Silver Ferns is the women's netball team.
World Cup wins
The Black Ferns have participated in every Rugby World Cup except for one since its inauguration in 1991, only missing the 1994 World Cup in Scotland. Starting with the inaugural International Rugby Board (IRB)-sponsored tournament in 1998, which was won by New Zealand, the Black Ferns have gone on to win five more titles — including the 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, and the 2021 tournament which was hosted in New Zealand.[8][9]
Funding
While rugby is the most popular spectator game in New Zealand, the Black Ferns have suffered in the past from similar problems to any women's sport: under-funding, lack of support and lack of publicity. While the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and World Rugby have been criticised to an extent for not doing more to promote women's rugby, support is beginning to improve in those organisations, in large part due to the Ferns' successes.
The NZRU started funding the Black Ferns in 1995, therefore giving a great boost to their game, while the Black Ferns have benefitted from being included in NZRU High Performance initiatives. Along with professional coaches, the team has had access to professional development resources such as analysis. In more recent times, the team's profile has risen greatly at a grassroots level, due in great part to their string of successes, and it is increasingly seen to be a national team on the same basis as any other.
Provincial championship
In January 2010, the Women's Provincial Championship (WPC) came under severe threat after the NZRU announced that it would be shut down due to budget cuts. As the championship was a prime builder of training, skill and competition for New Zealand women's rugby, the decision was a shock for players and supporters, including former captain Farah Palmer – especially since it was a World Cup year.[10]
While NZRU said women's domestic rugby was one of many victims of the tight financial times, they faced widespread criticism for their decision. After the Black Ferns' 2010 World Cup victory, the NZRU immediately apologised and reinstated the WPC, which was renamed the Farah Palmer Cup in 2016 in honour of the Black Ferns' influential former captain.
International competitions
The Black Ferns have won the Canada Cup in 1996, 2000, and 2005, and the Churchill Cup in 2004. From 2002 until their last game of 2009, the Black Ferns enjoyed a streak of 24 consecutive test match wins.
In 2018, after the success of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team, all Sevens and Black Ferns players have been offered semi-professional contracts. They also played the first Test series against the Australian Wallaroos, which was played on the same night as the Men's Bledisloe Cup Tests.
The 2018 season finished with a 1–1 drawn series against France, with France becoming only the fourth team in the world to beat the Black Ferns. The Black Ferns loss in the final game of the year ended a 17-month long winning streak and was also the final game for captain Fa’amausili, who retired from international rugby.[11]
In 2019, the Black Ferns won the annual Women's Rugby Super Series for the second time. On 31 October 2021, the Black Ferns played their 100th test match against England in Exeter.[12][13] They hosted the 2022 Pacific Four Series and won their first title after going undefeated in the series.[14][15]
In 2022, New Zealand hosted the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup after beating out neighbour Australia for the rights.[16] New Zealand automatically qualified for the 2021 event as host. The Black Ferns successfully defended their title and claimed their sixth World Championship after beating England (34–31) in the final.[17]
2023
The Black Ferns began 2023 with a new coach and a (50–0) thrashing of the Wallaroos in their first test of the year. The win saw them retain the O'Reilly Cup for another year and top the Pacific Four Series on points difference.[18] Convincing wins against Canada (52–21) and the United States (39–17) in the rest of the series also added a second title to their acclaim.[19][20]
New Zealand hosted the inaugural WXV 1 competition on 20 October 2023. They hosted Australia, Canada, England, France, and Wales in the top tier.[21][22] France ended their 16-game winning streak in their opening match with a (17–18) score.[19][23] A (70–7) drubbing of Wales saw them bounce back from their early defeat in their first test in Dunedin since 1997.[24][25] A title-decider with England saw a rematch of the 2021 World Cup final. The Red Roses overpowered the Black Ferns (12–33) and went on to claim the inaugural WXV 1 title.[26][27]
2024
In 2024, the Black Ferns started off their season by competing in the annual Pacific Four Series. They defeated the United States (57–0) and Australia (67–19) but lost to the eventual winners Canada (19–22) to finish the competition in second place.[28] They also retained the O'Reilly Cup after demolishing the Wallaroos (62–0) in their second match.[29] England beat the Black Ferns (12–24) before the start of the WXV 1.[30] The Black ferns finished the WXV 1 competition in 4th place after defeats to Ireland (27–29) and England (31–49). They defeated France in their final match (39–14).[31]
2025
The Black Ferns 2025 season commenced with participation in the 2025 Pacific Four Series. After defeating Australia (38–12) at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, on 10 May 2025 in their first match of the series, they drew with Canada (27–27) at Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch, on 17 May 2025.[32][33] The Black Ferns last draw was against England (8–8) in London in 2011.
After Canada defeated both the United States and Australia, the Black Ferns needed to defeat the United States by a 25-point margin to win the Pacific Four Series. They accomplished this in a clinical performance at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, on 24 May 2025, winning (79–14).[34] Seven of the 14 tries were scored by Portia Woodman. In doing so, Woodman became New Zealand's leading women's fifteen-a-side try scorer of all time with 45 tries from 26 tests, passing Vanessa Cootes record of 43 tries in 16 tests, which had stood since 2002.
On 6 July 2025, the Black Ferns faced the Black Ferns XV in a trial match in preparations for the World Cup and to give players a chance to stake a claim for the World Cup squad.[35] They defeated the Black Ferns XV (45–12) in a dominant display.[36] On 12 July 2025, the Black Ferns secured the Laurie O'Reilly Cup by defeating the Wallaroos (37–12) in their last test before the World Cup and their last game on home soil for the year.[37][38]
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Haka
The Black Ferns perform a haka (a Māori challenge) before every international match. The Black Ferns traditionally perform the haka Ko Uhia Mai, specially composed by the Māori rugby leader Te Whetū Tipiwai.
Record
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The first four games listed below – played at RugbyFest 1990 – are not generally accepted as being internationals by the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Overall
(Full internationals only, updated to 12 July 2025)[39]
Rugby World Cup
New Zealand have won the World Cup six times. They lost to eventual winners the United States in the semi-final of the inaugural competition held in Wales in 1991, but were absent from the following tournament in 1994, due to the late cancellation of the event. They defeated the United States in the final of the 1998 World Cup held in the Netherlands to claim their maiden title. They followed this up with three more consecutive titles, overcoming England in the final of the next three editions; 2002, 2006 and 2010, as well as in their fifth world title in 2017. They won their sixth World Title after defeating England (34–31) in the 2021 Rugby World Cup Grand Final.
In the 2014 Rugby World Cup, they lost a pool game to Ireland,[40] while the top two teams in another pool drew their match. This saw them miss out on the semi-finals by a single table point, before going on to heavily defeat Wales and the United States to finish the tournament in fifth.
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Players
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Current squad
On 25 July 2025, New Zealand named their 33-player squad for the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup in England.[41]
Non-travelling reserve: Krystal Murray
Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.
Notable players
Four former Black Ferns have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame: Farah Palmer, Anna Richards, Huriana Manuel-Carpenter and Fiao'o Fa'amausili.[42]
- Farah Palmer won three Women's Rugby World Cups, in 1998, 2002 and 2006.[43] During her captaincy from 1997 to 2006, the Black Ferns lost only once. Palmer made her international debut against Australia in August 1996. She earned 35 caps, making her the fifth-most capped Black Ferns player. Palmer was awarded the IRB International Women's Personality of the Year in 2005. For the 5th Women's Rugby World Cup in Canada, Palmer fought her way back into the team and again led them to World Cup victory. After the win, she announced her retirement from the Black Ferns in September 2006.[44] The national provincial women's competition in New Zealand is named in her honour in recognition of her contribution to the game.[45] She was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2014.[46]
- Anna Richards was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2014 along with Palmer.[47] She won 49 caps for the Black Ferns in a career that spanned two decades, from 1990 to 2010.[48][47] She played in the inaugural 1991 World Cup when New Zealand lost in the semi-finals.[48] Richards is also a four-time Women's Rugby World Cup winner – 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010; she played in every final.[49]
- Huriana Manuel-Carpenter represented New Zealand in both sevens and 15s.[50] In 2013, she captained the Black Ferns sevens side when they won the inaugural Women's Sevens Series title and the Sevens World Cup. She was also captain when the side successfully defended the series title in 2014.[51][52] She won a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games. Manuel-Carpenter is also a two-time Rugby World Cup winner – 2006 and 2010.[51][52] Between 2005 and 2014 she scored 15 tries from 25 test appearances.[51] She is part of the first mother-and-daughter duo to have played for the Black Ferns.[52][50] She was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2021.[53]
- Fiao'o Fa'amausili was the most capped Black Fern at the time of her retirement in 2018. She recorded 50 wins from 58 games with 35 tests as captain. She scored 17 tries, the most by a forward, and won four World Cups out of the five that she has attended.[42]
Award winners
The following New Zealand players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[54]
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Coaches
The following table lists every head coach of the Black Ferns, from 1991 to the present day. Every Black Ferns head coach has been a New Zealander.
Allan Bunting is the current head coach, as of 2023.[55] Wayne Smith is the first and, to date, the only Black Ferns head coach to be named World Rugby Coach of the Year at the World Rugby Awards.[56]
Updated to: 12 July 2025
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See also
- List of women's international rugby union test matches – the most complete listing of all women's international results since 1982.
- List of New Zealand women's national rugby union team matches
- List of New Zealand women's national rugby union players
- List of New Zealand women's national rugby union team player records
Further reading
- Curtin, Jennifer (2016). "Before the 'Black Ferns': Tracing the Beginnings of Women's Rugby in New Zealand". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 33 (17): 2071–2085. doi:10.1080/09523367.2017.1329201. S2CID 148962837.
Notes
- Brian Evans took a break from coaching in 2011.
- Greg Smith voluntarily stepped down as Black Ferns head coach without a single game.[57][58]
References
External links
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